Editing Pre-Columbian transoceanic contact theories (section)

== Claims of Polynesian contact ==
=== Human genetics ===
Between 2007 and 2009, geneticist [[Erik Thorsby]] and colleagues published two studies in ''[[Tissue Antigens]]'' that offer evidence of an Amerindian genetic contribution to human populations on [[Easter Island]], determining that it was probably introduced before European discovery of the island.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1399-0039.2006.00717.x |title= Molecular genetic studies of natives on Easter Island: evidence of an early European and Amerindian contribution to the Polynesian gene pool | year = 2007 | last1 = Lie | first1 = B. A. | last2 = Dupuy | first2 = B. M. | last3 = Spurkland | first3 = A.|authorlink3=Anne Spurkland | last4 = Fernández-Viña | first4 = M. A. | last5 = Hagelberg | first5 = E. |author-link5=Erika Hagelberg | last6 = Thorsby | first6 = E. | journal = Tissue Antigens | volume = 69 |issue= 1 | pages = 10–18 | pmid=17212703}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1399-0039.2009.01233.x | title= Further evidence of an Amerindian contribution to the Polynesian gene pool on Easter Island | year = 2009 | last1 = Thorsby | first1 = E. | last2 = Flåm | first2 = S. T. | last3 = Woldseth | first3 = B. | last4 = Dupuy | first4 = B. M. | last5 = Sanchez-Mazas | first5 = A. | last6 = Fernandez-Vina | first6 = M. A. | journal = Tissue Antigens | volume = 73 | issue = 6 | pages = 582–5 | pmid = 19493235 }}</ref> In 2014, geneticist Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas of the Center for GeoGenetics at the [[University of Copenhagen]] published a study in ''[[Current Biology]]'' that found human genetic evidence of contact between the populations of Easter Island and [[South America]], dating to approximately 600 years ago (i.e. 1400 CE ± 100 years).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Westerholm|first1=Russell|title=Easter Island Was Not Populated Solely by the Polynesians, According to New Genetic Study|url=http://www.universityherald.com/articles/12415/20141024/easter-island-was-not-populated-solely-by-the-polynesians-according-to-new-genetic-study.htm|website=University Herald|access-date=December 24, 2014|date=October 24, 2014}}</ref> In 2017, a comprehensive genomes study found "no Native American admixture in pre- and post-European-contact individuals".<ref name="Fehren-Schmitz Jarman Harkins Kayser 2017 pp. 3209–3215.e6">{{cite journal | last1=Fehren-Schmitz | first1=Lars | last2=Jarman | first2=Catrine L. | last3=Harkins | first3=Kelly M. | last4=Kayser | first4=Manfred | last5=Popp | first5=Brian N. | last6=Skoglund | first6=Pontus | title=Genetic Ancestry of Rapanui before and after European Contact | journal=Current Biology | publisher=Elsevier BV | volume=27 | issue=20 | year=2017 | issn=0960-9822 | doi=10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.029 | pages=3209–3215.e6| pmid=29033334 | s2cid=21693208 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2017CBio...27E3209F }}</ref>

Two skulls suggested to belong to "Botocudo" people (a term used to refer to Native Americans who live in the interior of [[Brazil]] that speak [[Macro-Jê languages]]), were found in research published in 2013 to have been members of [[mtDNA haplogroup]] [[Haplogroup B (mtDNA)#Tree|B4a1a1]], which is normally found only among Polynesians and other subgroups of [[Austronesian people|Austronesians]]. This was based on an analysis of 14 skulls. Two belonged to B4a1a1, while twelve belonged to subclades of mtDNA [[haplogroup C (mtDNA)|haplogroup C1]] (common among Native Americans). The research team examined various scenarios, none of which they could say for certain were correct. They dismissed a scenario of direct contact in prehistory between [[Polynesia]] and Brazil as "too unlikely to be seriously entertained." While B4a1a1 is also found among the [[Malagasy people]] of [[Madagascar]] (which experienced significant Austronesian settlement in prehistory), the authors described as "fanciful" suggestions that B4a1a1 among the Botocudo resulted from the African slave trade (which included Madagascar).<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Vanessa Faria Gonçalves |author2=Jesper Stenderup |author3=Cláudia Rodrigues-Carvalho |author4=Hilton P. Silva |author5=Higgor Gonçalves-Dornelas |author6=Andersen Líryo |author7=Toomas Kivisild |author8=Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas |author9=Paula F. Campos |author10=Morten Rasmussen |author11=Eske Willerslev |author12=Sergio Danilo J. Pena |title=Identification of Polynesian mtDNA haplogroups in remains of Botocudo Amerindians from Brazil|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=110|issue=16|pages=6465–6469|doi=10.1073/pnas.1217905110|year=2013 |pmid=23576724 |pmc=3631640|bibcode=2013PNAS..110.6465G |doi-access=free }}</ref> A later review paper of Polynesian history suggested that it was "more likely that these are the skulls of two people who died in Polynesia sometime early in the period of European voyaging, and whose graves were robbed by later visitors, and then mistakenly grouped in collections with the remains of Native Americans."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Horsburgh |first1=K. Ann |last2=McCoy |first2=Mark D. |date=September 2017 |title=Dispersal, Isolation, and Interaction in the Islands of Polynesia: A Critical Review of Archaeological and Genetic Evidence |journal=Diversity |language=en |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=37 |doi=10.3390/d9030037 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2017Diver...9...37H |issn=1424-2818}}</ref>

In 2020, a study in ''Nature'' found that populations in the [[Mangareva]], [[Marquesas Islands|Marquesas]], and [[Palliser Islands|Palliser]] islands and Easter Island had [[genetic admixture]] from indigenous populations of South America, with the DNA of contemporary populations of [[Zenú|Zenú people]] from the Pacific coast of [[Colombia]] being the closest match. The authors suggest that the genetic signatures were probably the result of a single ancient contact. They proposed that an initial admixture event between indigenous South Americans and Polynesians occurred in eastern Polynesia between 1150 and 1230 CE, with later admixture in Easter Island around 1380 CE,<ref name=":0" /> but suggested other possible contact scenarios—for example, Polynesian voyages to South America followed by Polynesian people's returning to Polynesia with South American people, or carrying South American genetic heritage.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Nature|last=Wallin|first=Paul|title=Native South Americans were early inhabitants of Polynesia|date=2020-07-08|volume=583|issue=7817|pages=524–525|doi=10.1038/d41586-020-01983-5|pmid=32641787|bibcode=2020Natur.583..524W|s2cid=220436442|doi-access=free}}</ref> Several scholars uninvolved in the study suggested that a contact event in South America was more likely.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gannon|first=Megan|date=2020-07-08|title=DNA reveals Native American presence in Polynesia centuries before Europeans arrived|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/07/dna-pre-columbian-contact-polynesians-native-americans/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709021542/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/07/dna-pre-columbian-contact-polynesians-native-americans/|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 9, 2020|access-date=2020-07-09|website=National Geographic|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Wade|first=Lizzie|date=2020-07-08|title=Polynesians steering by the stars met Native Americans long before Europeans arrived|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/polynesians-steering-stars-met-native-americans-long-europeans-arrived|access-date=2020-07-09|website=Science {{!}} AAAS|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Zimmer|first=Carl|date=2020-07-08|title=Some Polynesians Carry DNA of Ancient Native Americans, New Study Finds|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/science/polynesian-ancestry.html|access-date=2020-07-09|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Further genetic analysis on Easter Island indigenous population showed about 10% of the genome to be of Native American origin.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Moreno-Mayar |first1=J. Víctor |last2=Sousa da Mota |first2=Bárbara |last3=Higham |first3=Tom |last4=Klemm |first4=Signe |last5=Gorman Edmunds |first5=Moana |last6=Stenderup |first6=Jesper |last7=Iraeta-Orbegozo |first7=Miren |last8=Laborde |first8=Véronique |last9=Heyer |first9=Evelyne |last10=Torres Hochstetter |first10=Francisco |last11=Friess |first11=Martin |last12=Allentoft |first12=Morten E. |last13=Schroeder |first13=Hannes |last14=Delaneau |first14=Olivier |last15=Malaspinas |first15=Anna-Sapfo |date=September 11, 2024 |title=Ancient Rapanui genomes reveal resilience and pre-European contact with the Americas |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=633 |issue=8029 |pages=389–397 |doi=10.1038/s41586-024-07881-4 |pmid=39261618 |pmc=11390480 |bibcode=2024Natur.633..389M |issn=1476-4687}}</ref>

=== Plant genetics ===
The genetics of several plant species has also been used to support pre-Columbian contact via the Pacific. For example, there is a genetically distinct sub-population of coconuts on the western coast of South America. This has been suggested to be evidence of introduction by Austronesian seafarers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Baudouin |first1=Luc |last2=Lebrun |first2=Patricia |date=2009-03-01 |title=Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) DNA studies support the hypothesis of an ancient Austronesian migration from Southeast Asia to America |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-008-9362-6 |journal=Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution |language=en |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=257–262 |doi=10.1007/s10722-008-9362-6 |bibcode=2009GRCEv..56..257B |s2cid=19529408 |issn=1573-5109}}</ref>

=== Sweet potato ===
{{see also|Sweet potato cultivation in Polynesia}}
[[File:Dispersion de la patate douce01.svg|thumb|right|alt=World map showing the spread of sweet potatoes|The spread of sweet potatoes. The red lines indicate the likely spread carried out by the Polynesians.]]
The [[sweet potato]], a food crop native to the Americas, was widespread in Polynesia by the time European explorers first reached the Pacific. Sweet potato has been radiocarbon-dated to 1000 CE in the [[Cook Islands]]. Current thinking is that it was brought to central Polynesia c. 700 CE and spread across Polynesia from there.<ref>{{cite book |last=Van Tilburg |first=Jo Anne |year=1994 |title=Easter Island: Archaeology, Ecology and Culture |location=Washington DC |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press}}</ref> It has been suggested that it was brought by Polynesians who had traveled across the Pacific to South America and back, or that South Americans brought it to Polynesia.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Langdon | first1 = Robert | year = 2001 | title = The Bamboo Raft as a Key to the Introduction of the Sweet Potato in Prehistoric Polynesia | journal = The Journal of Pacific History | volume = 36 | issue = 1| pages = 51–76| doi=10.1080/00223340123312}}</ref> It is also possible that the plant floated across the ocean after being discarded from the cargo of a boat.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Modeling the prehistoric arrival of the sweet potato in Polynesia | doi=10.1016/j.jas.2007.04.004 | volume=35|issue=2 |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science|pages=355–367|year=2008 |last1=Montenegro |first1=Álvaro |last2=Avis |first2=Chris |last3=Weaver |first3=Andrew | bibcode=2008JArSc..35..355M }}</ref> According to the "tripartite hypothesis", [[phylogenetic]] analysis supports at least two separate introductions of sweet potatoes from South America into Polynesia, including one before and one after European contact.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Roullier |first1=Caroline |first2= Laure |last2=Benoit |first3=Doyle B. |last3=McKey |first4=Vincent |last4=Lebot|title=Historical collections reveal patterns of diffusion of sweet potato in Oceania obscured by modern plant movements and recombination|journal=PNAS|volume=110|issue=6|date=January 22, 2013|doi=10.1073/pnas.1211049110|pmid=23341603|pages=2205–2210|bibcode=2013PNAS..110.2205R|pmc=3568323|doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[File:Thames Kumara n.jpg|thumb|right|Sweet potatoes for sale, Thames, New Zealand. The word "kumara" has entered English from [[Māori language|Māori]] and is widely used, especially in Polynesia.]]

Dutch linguists and specialists in [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|Amerindian languages]] [[Willem Adelaar]] and Pieter Muysken have suggested that the word for sweet potato is shared by Polynesian languages and languages of South America. [[Proto-Polynesian language|Proto-Polynesian]] *''kumala''<ref name=POLLEX-kumala>{{cite web|last1=Greenhill|first1=Simon J.|last2=Clark|first2=Ross|last3=Biggs|first3=Bruce|title=Entries for KUMALA.1 [LO] Sweet Potato (Ipomoea)|url=http://pollex.org.nz/entry/kumala1|work=POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online|access-date=July 16, 2013|year=2010|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208114223/http://pollex.org.nz/entry/kumala1/}}</ref> (compare [[Rapa Nui language|Easter Island]] {{lang|rap|kumara}}, [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] {{lang|haw|{{okina}}uala}},<!--this is correct. an [m] was not dropped.--> [[Māori language|Māori]] {{lang|mi|kūmara}}; even though a proto-form is reconstructed above, apparent [[cognate]]s outside [[Eastern Polynesian languages|Eastern Polynesian]] are either definitely [[Loanword|borrowed]] from Eastern Polynesian languages or irregular, calling Proto-Polynesian status and age into question) may be connected with dialectal [[Quechua language|Quechua]] and [[Aymara language|Aymara]] ''k'umar ~ k'umara''; most Quechua dialects actually use ''apichu'' instead, but ''comal'' was attested at extinct [[Cañari language]] on the coast of what is now Ecuador in 1582.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sheppard |first1=Peter |date=April 2006 |title=Review of 'The Sweet Potato in Oceania: A Reappraisal' |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40387337 |journal=Archaeology in Oceania |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=46–48 |doi=10.1002/j.1834-4453.2006.tb00608.x |jstor=40387337 |access-date=19 March 2024}}</ref>

Adelaar and Muysken assert that the similarity in the word for sweet potato "constitutes near proof of incidental contact between inhabitants of the Andean region and the South Pacific." The authors argue that the presence of the word for sweet potato suggests sporadic contact between Polynesia and South America, but not necessarily migrations.<ref name="Adelaar2004">{{cite book|first1=Willem F. H. |last1=Adelaar|first2=Pieter C. |last2=Muysekn|title=The Languages of the Andes|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiwaUY6KsY8C&pg=PA41|year= 2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-45112-3|page=41|chapter=Genetic relations of South American Indian languages}}</ref>

=== ''Ageratum conyzoides'' ===
''[[Ageratum conyzoides]]'', also known as billygoat-weed, chick weed, goatweed, or whiteweed, is native to the tropical Americas, and was found in Hawaii by [[William Hillebrand]] in 1888 who considered it to have grown there before [[James Cook|Captain Cook's]] arrival in 1778. A legitimate native name (''meie parari'' or ''mei rore'') and established native medicinal usage and use as a scent and in [[Lei (garland)|leis]] have been offered as support for the pre-Cookian age.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hillebrand |first1=William |title=Flora of the Hawaiian Islands |url=https://archive.org/details/mobot31753003034128 |date=1888 |publisher=Williams and Norgate |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Forest B. H. |title=Flora of Southeastern Polynesia, III. Dicotyledons |journal=Bishop Museum Bulletin, Honolulu |date=1935 |volume=130}}</ref>

=== Turmeric ===
[[Turmeric]] (''Curcuma longa'') originated in Asia, and there is linguistic and circumstantial evidence of the spread and use of turmeric by the Austronesian peoples into Oceania and Madagascar. Günter Tessmann in 1930 (300 years after European contact) reported that a species of ''Curcuma'' was grown by the [[Amahuaca]] tribe to the east of the Upper Ucayali River in Peru and was a dye-plant used for the painting of the body, with the nearby [[Witoto people]] using it as face paint in their ceremonial dances.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tessman |first1=Günter |title=Die Indianer Nordost-Perus |date=1930 |publisher=Friederichsen, de Gruyter, & Co. |location=Hamburg |pages=161, 324}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Tessman |first1=Günter|title=Menschen ohne Gott : ein Besuch bei den Indianern des Ucayali |date=1928 |publisher=Strecker und Schroder |location=Stuttgart}}</ref> David Sopher noted in 1950 that "the evidence for a pre-European, transpacific introduction of the plant by man seems very strong indeed".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sopher |first1=David E. |title=Turmeric in the Color Symbolism of Southern Asia and the Pacific Islands. |date=1950 |publisher=M.A. Thesis, University of California, Berkeley |location=Berkeley California |page=88}}</ref>

=== Physical anthropology ===
[[File:Isla Mocha 1.jpg|right|thumb|[[Mocha Island]] off the coast of the [[Arauco Peninsula]], Chile]]
In December 2007, several human skulls were found in a museum in [[Concepción, Chile]]. These skulls originated on [[Mocha Island]], an island which is located just off the coast of Chile on the Pacific Ocean, formerly inhabited by the Mapuche. [[craniometry|Craniometric]] analysis of the skulls, according to [[Lisa Matisoo-Smith]] of the [[University of Otago]] and [[José Miguel Ramírez Aliaga]] of the [[Universidad de Valparaíso]], suggests that the skulls have "[[Polynesian people|Polynesian]] features"&nbsp;– such as a pentagonal shape when they are viewed from behind, and rocker jaws.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Lawler |first1= Andrew |title=Beyond ''Kon-Tiki'': Did Polynesians Sail to South America?|journal=Science|date= June 11, 2010 |pages= 1344–1347 | pmid=20538927 | doi=10.1126/science.328.5984.1344 | volume=328 | issue=5984 |bibcode= 2010Sci...328.1344L }}</ref>

Rocker jaws have also been found at an excavation led José Miguel Ramírez in the coastal locality of [[Tunquén]], Central Chile.<ref name=playaanchatunq>{{Cite news |title=De la Polinesia a Tunquén: Evidencias de mestizaje con población local |url=http://www.upla.cl/noticias/2017/01/19/de-la-polinesia-a-tunquen-evidencias-de-mestizaje-con-poblacion-local/ |access-date=2022-05-02 |work=Playa Ancha Noticias |publisher=[[University of Playa Ancha]] |language=Spanish|archive-date=November 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101072100/http://www.upla.cl/noticias/2017/01/19/de-la-polinesia-a-tunquen-evidencias-de-mestizaje-con-poblacion-local/}}</ref> The site of excavation corresponds to an area with pre-Hispanic tombs and [[Midden#Shells|shell middens]] ({{langx|es|conchal}}).<ref name=playaanchatunq/> A global review of rocker jaws among different populations show that while rocker jaws are not unique to Polynesians "[t]he rarity of rocker jaw in South American natives supports" the view of "Polynesian voyagers who ventured to the west coast of South America".<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Rocker jaw: global context for a Polynesian characteristic |journal=[[The Anatomical Record]] |last1=Scott |first1=Richard |volume=304 |pages=1776–1791 |last2=Stull |first2=Kyra E. |issue=8 |year=2021 |last3=Sbei |first3=Andrea N. |last4=McKinney |first4=Mason |last5=Scarlett R. |first5=Boling |last6=Irish |first6=Joal D.|doi=10.1002/ar.24566 |pmid=33159494 |s2cid=226276081 |url=https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/14313/8/Rocker%20jaw%20global%20context%20for%20a%20Polynesian%20characteristic.pdf }}</ref>

=== Disputed evidence ===
==== Araucanian chickens ====
In 2007, evidence emerged which suggested the possibility of pre-Columbian contact between the [[Mapuche|Mapuche people]] (Araucanians) of south-central Chile and Polynesians. Bones of [[Araucana|Araucana chickens]] found at [[El Arenal, Chile|El Arenal]] site in the [[Araucanía (historic region)|Arauco Peninsula]], an area inhabited by Mapuche, support a pre-Columbian introduction of [[landrace]]s from the South Pacific islands to South America.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last1 = Storey | first1 = A. A.
| last2 = Ramirez | first2 = J. M.
| last3 = Quiroz | first3 = D.
| last4 = Burley | first4 = D. V.
| last5 = Addison | first5 = D. J.
| last6 = Walter | first6 = R.
| last7 = Anderson | first7 = A. J.
| last8 = Hunt | first8 = T. L.
| last9 = Athens | first9 = J. S.
| last10 = Huynen
| doi = 10.1073/pnas.0703993104 | first10 = L.
| last11 = Matisoo-Smith | first11 = E. A.
| title = Radiocarbon and DNA evidence for a pre-Columbian introduction of Polynesian chickens to Chile
| journal = [[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]]
| volume = 104
| issue = 25
| pages = 10335–10339
| year = 2007
| pmid = 17556540
| pmc =1965514
| bibcode = 2007PNAS..10410335S
| doi-access = free
}}</ref> The bones found in Chile were radiocarbon-dated to between 1304 and 1424, before the arrival of the Spanish. Chicken DNA sequences were matched to those of chickens in [[American Samoa]] and [[Tonga]], and found to be dissimilar to those of European chickens.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.livescience.com/history/070604_polynesian_chicken.html |title= Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas Before Columbus |journal=Live Science |date=June 4, 2007 |access-date=June 5, 2007 |last=Whipps |first=Heather }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.archaeology.org/0801/topten/chicken.html|title=Top 10 Discoveries of 2007 – Polynesian Chickens in Chile – Archaeology Magazine Archive|work=archaeology.org}}</ref>

However, this finding was challenged by a 2008 study which questioned its methodology and concluded that its conclusion is flawed, although the theory it posits may still be possible.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last1 = Gongora | first1 = J.
| last2 = Rawlence | first2 = N. J.
| last3 = Mobegi | first3 = V. A.
| last4 = Jianlin | first4 = H.
| last5 = Alcalde | first5 = J. A.
| last6 = Matus | first6 = J. T.
| last7 = Hanotte | first7 = O.
| last8 = Moran | first8 = C.
| last9 = Austin | first9 = J. J.
| last10 = Ulm | first10 = S.
| last11 = Anderson | first11 = A. J.
| last12 = Larson | first12 = G.
| last13 = Cooper | first13 = A.
| doi = 10.1073/pnas.0801991105
| title = Indo-European and Asian origins for Chilean and Pacific chickens revealed by mtDNA
| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
| volume = 105
| issue = 30
| pages = 10308–10313
| year = 2008
| pmid = 18663216
| pmc =2492461
| bibcode = 2008PNAS..10510308G
| doi-access = free
}}</ref> Another study in 2014 reinforced that dismissal, and posited the crucial flaw in the initial research: "The analysis of ancient and modern specimens reveals a unique Polynesian genetic signature" and that "a previously reported connection between pre-European South America and Polynesian chickens most likely resulted from contamination with modern DNA, and that this issue is likely to confound ancient DNA studies involving haplogroup E chicken sequences."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Thomson|first1=Vicki A|first2=Ophélie |last2=Lebrasseur |first3=Jeremy J. |last3=Austin |first4=Terry L. |last4=Hunt |first5=David A. |last5=Burney |first6=Tim |last6=Denham |first7=Nicolas J. |last7=Rawlence |first8=Jamie R. |last8=Wood |first9=Jaime |last9=Gongor |first10=Linus Girdland |last10=Flink |first11=Anna |last11=Linderholm |first12=Keith |last12=Dobney |first13=Greger |last13=Larson |first14=Alan |last14=Cooper |title=Using ancient DNA to study the origins and dispersal of ancestral Polynesian chickens across the Pacific |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|date=April 1, 2014 |volume=111 |issue=13 |pages=4826–4831 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1320412111 |pmid=24639505 |pmc=3977275 |bibcode=2014PNAS..111.4826T|doi-access=free}}</ref>

However, in a 2013 study, the original authors extended and elaborated their findings, concluding:<ref>{{cite journal |title=Polynesian Chickens in the New World: a detailed application of a commensal approach|journal=[[Archaeology in Oceania]] |year=2013 |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=101–119 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261656806 |doi=10.1002/arco.5007 |last1=Storey |first1=Alice A. |last2=Quiroz |first2=Daniel |last3=Beavan |first3=Nancy |last4=Matisoo-Smith |first4=Elizabeth }}</ref> 
{{blockquote|text=
This comprehensive approach demonstrates that the examination of modern chicken DNA sequences does not contribute to our understanding of the origins of Chile's earliest chickens. Interpretations based on poorly sourced and documented modern chicken populations, divorced from the archeological and historical evidence, do not withstand scrutiny. Instead, this expanded account will confirm the pre-Columbian age of the El Arenal remains and lend support to our original hypothesis that their appearance in South America is most likely due to Polynesian contact with the Americas in prehistory.
}}

A 2019 study of South American chickens "revealed an unknown genetic component that is mostly present in the Easter Island population that is also present in local chicken populations from the South American Pacific fringe".<ref name=gallinas2019>{{Cite journal |title=The Local South American Chicken Populations Are a Melting-Pot of Genomic Diversity |journal=[[Frontiers in Genetics]] |last1=Luzuriaga-Neira |first1=Agusto |last2=Pérez-Pardal |first2=Lucía |doi=10.3389/fgene.2019.01172 |year=2019 |last3=O’Rourke |first3=Sean M. |last4=Villacís-Rivas |first4=Gustavo |last5=Cueva-Castillo |first5=Freddy |last6=Escudero-Sánchez |first6=Galo |last7=Aguirre-Pabón |first7=Juan Carlos |last8=Ulloa-Núñez |first8=Amarilis |last9=Rubilar-Quezada |first9=Makarena |last10=Vallinoto |first10=Marcelo |last11=Miller |first11=Michael R.|last12=Beja-Pereira |first12=Albano|volume=10 |page=1172 |pmid=31803242 |pmc=6877731 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The Easter Island chicken's "genetic proximity with the SA continental gamefowl can be explained by the fact that both populations were not crossed with cosmopolitan breeds and therefore remain closer to the ancestral population that originated them. "<ref name=gallinas2019/> The genetic proximity might also "be indicative of a common origin of these two populations".<ref name=gallinas2019/>

==== California canoes ====
[[File:Chumash Tomol 'Elye'wun paddlers, CINMS.jpg|thumb|right|''{{'}}Elye'wun'', a reconstructed Chumash [[tomol]]]]
Researchers including Kathryn Klar and Terry Jones have proposed a theory of contact between [[Native Hawaiians|Hawaiians]] and the [[Chumash people]] of [[Southern California]] between 400 and 800 CE. The sewn-plank canoes crafted by the Chumash and neighboring [[Tongva people|Tongva]] are unique among the indigenous peoples of North America, but similar in design to larger canoes used by Polynesians and Melanesians for deep-sea voyages. ''[[Tomol|Tomolo'o]]'', the [[Chumash language|Chumash]] word for such a craft, may derive from {{lang|haw|tumula{{okina}}au/kumula{{okina}}au}}, the Hawaiian term for the logs from which shipwrights carve planks to be sewn into canoes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 June 2005 |title=Did ancient Polynesians visit California? Maybe so. |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/20/MNG9GDBBLG1.DTL |access-date=31 January 2022 |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jones |first1=Terry L. |last2=Kathryn A. Klar |date=June 3, 2005 |title=Diffusionism Reconsidered: Linguistic and Archaeological Evidence for Prehistoric Polynesian Contact with Southern California |url=http://www.saa.org/publications/AmAntiq/70-3/Jones.html |url-status=dead |journal=American Antiquity |volume=70 |issue=3 |pages=457–484 |doi=10.2307/40035309 |jstor=40035309 |s2cid=161301055 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927085144/http://www.saa.org/Publications/AmAntiq/70-3/Jones.html |archive-date=September 27, 2006 |access-date=March 6, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=James D. |last2=Cecilia Garcia |last3=Eric J. Lien |date=January 23, 2008 |title=A Comparison of Chinese and American Indian (Chumash) Medicine |journal=Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=219–25 |doi=10.1093/ecam/nem188 |pmc=2862936 |pmid=18955312 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>[http://cla.calpoly.edu/~tljones/ Terry Jones's homepage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511194439/http://cla.calpoly.edu/~tljones/ |date=May 11, 2008 }}, California Polytechnic State University.</ref> The analogous [[Tongva language|Tongva]] term, {{lang|xgf|tii'at}}, is unrelated. If it occurred, this contact left no genetic legacy in California or Hawaii. This theory has attracted limited media attention within California, but most archaeologists of the Tongva and Chumash cultures reject it on the grounds that the independent development of the sewn-plank canoe over several centuries is well-represented in the material record.<ref>For the argument against the Chumash—Polynesian contact theory, see {{Cite journal |last=Arnold |first=J.E. |year=2007 |title=Credit Where Credit is Due: The History of the Chumash Oceangoing Plank Canoe |journal=American Antiquity |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=196–209 |doi=10.2307/40035811 |jstor=40035811 |s2cid=145274737}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Origins of a Pacific Coast Chiefdom: The Chumash of the Channel Islands |publisher=University of Utah Press |year=2001 |editor-last=Arnold |editor-first=Jeanne E. |location=Salt Lake City}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gamble |first=Lynn H. |year=2002 |title=Archaeological Evidence for the Origin of the Plank Canoe in North America |journal=American Antiquity |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=301–315 |doi=10.2307/2694568 |jstor=2694568 |s2cid=163616908}}</ref>

==== Clava hand-club and words for axes ====
Archaeological artefacts known as [[clava hand-club]]s found in [[Araucanía (historic region)|Araucanía]] and nearby areas of Argentina have a strong resemblance to the [[Wahaika|mere okewa]] found in [[New Zealand]].<ref name=mostnyclava/> The clava hand-clubs are also mentioned in the Spanish chronicles dating to the [[Conquest of Chile]].<ref name=mostnyclava/> According to [[Grete Mostny]], clava hand-clubs "appear to have arrived to the west coast of South America from the Pacific".<ref name=mostnyclava>{{Cite book |title=Prehistoria de Chile |last=Mostny |first=Grete |publisher=[[Editorial Universitaria]] |year=1983 |edition=6th |location=Santiago de Chile |pages=146–148 |language=Spanish |chapter=Período agroalfarero |author-link=Grete Mostny |orig-date=1981}}</ref> Polynesian clubs from [[Chatham Islands]] are reportedly the most similar to those of Chile.<ref name=Ramirez2010/> The clava hand-club is one of various Polynesian-like Mapuche artifacts known.<ref name=Ramirez2010>{{Cite journal |title=The Polynesian-Mapuche connection: Soft and Hard Evidence and New Ideas |journal=Rapa Nui Journal |last=Ramírez-Aliaga |first=José-Miguel |year=2010 |volume=24 |pages=29–33 |issue=1}}</ref>

Possible linguistic evidence for Austronesian-American contact is found in words for axes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Emory |first=Kenneth P. |date=1942 |title=OCEANIAN INFLUENCE ON AMERICAN INDIAN CULTURE. Nordenskiold's View |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20702896 |journal=The Journal of the Polynesian Society |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=126–135 |jstor=20702896 |issn=0032-4000}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neiburger |first=E. J. |date=2020 |title=Did Polynesians Visit the Prehistoric Americas? |url=https://web.s.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=00089559&AN=141360314&h=weBRg0%2bDkyfI2tGq8bH0tUku84ud4gLOCqJT9G%2bryqM1%2fqp%2br8%2byAaPJtYz2ae7%2fy1%2bBz1D%2bzRX15N%2fJgxhcXw%3d%3d&crl=c&resultNs=AdminWebAuth&resultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuth&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d00089559%26AN%3d141360314 |journal=Central States Archaeological Journal |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=36–43}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Terry L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncWCVCaWMuAC&q=toki+adze+chief+colombia |title=Polynesians in America: Pre-Columbian Contacts with the New World |last2=Storey |first2=Alice A. |last3=Matisoo-Smith |first3=Elizabeth A. |last4=Ramírez-Aliaga |first4=José Miguel |date=2011-01-16 |publisher=Rowman Altamira |isbn=978-0-7591-2006-8 |pages=103–106 |language=en}}</ref> On Easter Island, the word for a stone axe is ''[[Wiktionary:toki|toki]]''; among the New Zealand Maori, the word ''toki'' denotes an [[adze]]. Similar words are found in the Americas: In the [[Mapuche language]] of [[Chile]] and [[Argentina]], the word for a stone axe is ''toki''; and further afield in [[Colombia]], the [[Yurumanguí language|Yurumanguí]] word for an axe is ''totoki''.<ref name="Adelaar2004"/> 

Stone adzes often had ceremonial value and were worn by Maori chiefs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lillios |first=Katina T. |date=1999-09-01 |title=Objects of Memory: The Ethnography and Archaeology of Heirlooms |url=https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021999319447 |journal=Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory |language=en |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=235–262 |doi=10.1023/A:1021999319447 |issn=1573-7764}}</ref> The Mapuche word ''toki'' may also mean "chief" and thus may be related to the [[Cuzco Quechua language|Quechua]] word ''toqe'' ("militia chief") and the [[Aymara language|Aymara]] word ''toqueni'' ("person of great judgement").<ref name="Moulianetal2015">{{cite journal |last1=Moulian |first1=Rodrígo |last2=Catrileo |first2=María|last3=Landeo |first3=Pablo|author-link2=María Catrileo |date=2015 |title=Afines quechua en el vocabulario mapuche de Luis de Valdivia |trans-title=Akins Quechua words in the Mapuche vocabulary of Luis de Valdivia |url=https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-48832015000200004&script=sci_arttext|journal=[[Revista de lingüística teórica y aplicada]] |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=73–96 |doi=10.4067/S0718-48832015000200004 |access-date=January 13, 2019|language=es|doi-access=free }}</ref> In the view of Moulian et al. (2015) the possible South American links complicate matters regarding the meaning of the word ''toki'' because they are suggestive of Polynesian contact.<ref name="Moulianetal2015" />